Photo by Vince Fedoroff
CAMERA'S VIGILANCE PAYS OFF – With the city's new video surveillance system now in effect, six vehicles had been ticketed along one side of Lambert Street on Tuesday afternoon when the Star photographer dropped by. Dave Pruden
A new piece of technology for the city's bylaw department proved its worth Monday when a whopping 34 tickets were issued to drivers who had vehicles illegally parked in two-hour zones around town.
A new piece of technology for the city's bylaw department proved its worth Monday when a whopping 34 tickets were issued to drivers who had vehicles illegally parked in two-hour zones around town.
The city announced last month it now has a new $60,000 rooftop camera on its Ford Escape. It's using the device to enforce its parking regulations rather than chalking tires to record the amount of time.
The move comes out of the recommendations outlined in the city's 2011 Downtown Parking Management Plan which will see increasingly strict parking restrictions throughout the downtown area by 2020.
While warnings have been issued over the last couple of weeks, Monday marked the date bylaw officers began issuing tickets with the use of the rooftop camera.
There is no discount for paying them within 24 hours.
Bylaw manager Dave Pruden said the 34 tickets issued Monday with the help of the new camera in the two-hour parking zone compare to about 15 or 20 that would typically be issued with officers chalking vehicles to gauge how much time vehicles have been parked there.
Of the 34 vehicle owners issued $25 tickets Monday, Pruden said, the city received just one complaint from a man who argued he had left the area and later returned, so should not have been issued a ticket.
"We advised him otherwise,” he said.
As Pruden explained, the bylaw does not allow for the clock to start again when a vehicle returns after leaving the spot.
In the brochure on the changes circulated by the bylaw department last month, officials pointed out the two-hour zone requires that drivers leave the street where they were parked after two hours for a minimum of two hours.
If drivers park in a two-hour zone at 9 a.m., for example, they have until 11 a.m. before they have to move their vehicles. If they leave and come back within those two hours, they're still bound by the 9 a.m. start.
That means a vehicle parked at 9 a.m. can stay until 11 a.m., but must leave until at least 1 p.m.
In other jurisdictions, Pruden noted in an earlier interview, vehicles parked in a two-hour zone cannot return to the area for the rest of the day.
– With files from Chuck Tobin
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Comments (45)
Up 0 Down 0
Janis on Aug 15, 2018 at 2:35 pm
I live on Lambert Street across from the medical facility. The parking is so congested it's ridiculous. I have cars parked all day in front of my residence. And they park for free. They should install 2 hr regulation here. People trying to go to doctors offices can't find a spot. Have big trucks, buses, city trucks going up and going down.There is going to be a serious accident one day. I've lived here for three yrs. Time to fix it they even park in back lanes and for free in a big empty lot - anywhere they can find empty space.
Up 2 Down 0
Shannon Emslie on Jul 10, 2014 at 7:37 am
I will bet that Dave Pruden does not have to pay for parking while at work.
Up 30 Down 7
Sandy Helland on Jun 19, 2014 at 2:36 pm
Don't drive downtown. Don't go downtown. "You're not wanted here" signage on Main Street comes to mind.
In a city where driving is required --because of its poor planning -- driving will bankrupt drivers with excessive tickets, pre-paid parking and accidents.
Land of bankruptcies, not land of the midnight sun.
Up 39 Down 15
Sheila Brown on Jun 18, 2014 at 11:48 pm
Good on ya' City of Whitehorse - it's about time that people stop taking up the parking spots all day long! I just wish the Airport would man up and start to haul away some of the vehicles that have been parked in short term parking for so long that their tires have gone flat or their license plate stickers have expired!!
Up 24 Down 5
north of 60 on Jun 18, 2014 at 2:33 pm
@ Sarah B One comment out of 39 personally attacked an individual. The rest spoke to the proven, ongoing incompetence of CoW bureaucracy in general. The abysmal record and social engineering control agenda speaks for itself. The functional positions are ineffective, regardless of who is sitting behind the desk. Don't overreact.
Up 26 Down 0
DMZ on Jun 18, 2014 at 2:33 pm
I became aware of this bylaw several years ago, when I noticed a bylaw officer chalking some tires -- maybe mine, I don't remember -- and asked about it. But it looks like they've ramped it up.
I'm surprised if it doesn't bother downtown businesses. For myself, I find it deters the spontaneous walking around/browsing I used to do -- ever since that day, really. I hate wasting money on parking tickets. Downtown is nice, but I imagine the scales can tip against it.
Up 22 Down 37
Sarah B on Jun 18, 2014 at 8:40 am
I feel sorry for those people who are ignorant and make some ignorant uneducated comments about those City Officers. I have a good friend who works in the department and it's interesting to hear what actually happens in their job. Not only that...these are your neighbours, friends, these are real people. Treat people how you want to be treated.
People need to think about where the decisions are coming from...not throw mud at the people on the front line. I can just imagine those same ignorant people in their own jobs when other people get mad at them, and those ignorant people wishing people would realize that they have to follow orders too. Remember that next time you have a bad day when someone ignorant throws mud at you. Instead of making a nasty comment at anyone, no matter what their job is, how about these ignorant ones zip their lip and walk a mile in someone else's shoes. Somehow I don't even think they'd have the balls to even do that. Treat everyone with respect.
Up 27 Down 6
Concerned on Jun 18, 2014 at 7:22 am
Instead of concentrating on parking concerns downtown they should be giving out violations for drivers that do not stop safely through crosswalks on 2nd and 4th Ave. People need to seriously read their drivers manual and need to stop until the pedestrian reaches the other side of the road's sidewalk. I have been almost hit so many times and seriously considering using a safety vest. Like seriously what is the rush? This is not Vancouver. Speed kills people. Be safe and not sorry.
Up 7 Down 42
FPO on Jun 18, 2014 at 7:17 am
All the funds from the fines should go towards a real Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. Who agrees with me??
Up 14 Down 35
River Dale on Jun 17, 2014 at 11:43 pm
It seems some people want the city to twin the bridge to Riverdale so they can still drive downtown and park instead of using transit or their bikes. I wonder if they're the same people whining and weeping about the "huge cash grab" by the city on this issue.
Parking and roads are expensive, so the die-hard drivers should be willing to pay for breaking the bylaws (which have been in place for a while I am sure).
Also, remember that this is about enforcing an existing parking law, LOL. You'd think that maybe this was something more serious based on the melodramatic vitriol in these comments. Grow up, people!
Up 41 Down 9
Eric Hindson on Jun 13, 2014 at 11:32 pm
Cross walks at every corner on a busy four lane road! Having to yield to buses! Now we have an already user unfriendly parking scheme downtown which, has just taken a turn for the worse. WOW is all that needs to be said.
Up 45 Down 6
Yukonertoo on Jun 13, 2014 at 7:19 pm
Great. Now more of our privacy has been eroded. The City can now track us: where we park; where we go; and, how long we go there. How will this information be protected? Who can gain access to the data? Will the information be subject to subpeona? Given the unprecedented level of surveillance undertaken against Canadians, especially during the last decade, do we really need more state intrusion into our lives?
Up 38 Down 6
north of 60 on Jun 13, 2014 at 7:06 am
If you voted for this 'Greenwashed Sustainability' CoW govt, then don't complain if this social engineering experiment is inconvenient for you. Purposefully ignoring traffic congestion, and actually making it worse in some cases, combined with making parking difficult, expensive and inconvenient is all part of the plan to make you stop driving your car to work.
This social manipulation is an undue hardship for those downtown workers who need their car parked close by so they can rush out during 'coffee break' to get their kids from school and chauffeured to their après l'école activities, then rush back to work.
No doubt the people pushing this social engineering experiment all have paid parking as part as one of their job benefits. "Let them ride the bus, we know what's best for them"
Up 49 Down 12
Salar on Jun 13, 2014 at 4:53 am
@Will...do those imaginary Whitehorse park and rides have plug in for -30 and below days?
You're dreaming (an absent brain does that) if you think Cow will get out of the way to allow special licenses to anyone.....
Haven't you been paying attention over the past 5 years?.....or too busy saving the planet?
Up 50 Down 6
Always a Yukoner on Jun 13, 2014 at 1:29 am
Of course this is a cash grab for COW!!
Most bylaw officers don't think they should walk around giving tickets, HELLO, lazy lazy!!! There is nowhere that a vehicle can park all day in Whitehorse, make a parkade and charge a monthly rate, not too hard to figure out. Who would take transit or ride a bike in 40 below. Transit takes so long there, not worth it. Not everyone is into risking their life riding a bike in Whitehorse, I was hit twice and wouldn't dare ride there now, just as bad as Vancouver!!!
Citizens of Whitehorse get your act together and get rid of these people that think of these stupid, stupid ideas!!
Up 25 Down 52
Will on Jun 12, 2014 at 11:33 pm
Perhaps it's time to take the bus to work and stop crying about parking. The bus is cheaper than driving your car, more environmentally friendly than driving your car and if you think cause you live out of town and don't have a bus stop by your house then get over yourself. Drive to the nearest bus stop, park, and ride the bus. There is park and ride in every other city in the world so why not Whitehorse.
Leave work every 2 hours to move your car? Get over yourself, your boss doesn't have control of where you park, drive to work 10 minutes early, find parking for the day where ever it is and walk to work. Get off your lazy a-- and start being accountable for your own actions. Nobody would get parking tickets if they followed the law.
As for the person that provides home care in Closeleigh manor, I think that is a great idea! The city should promote in anyway they can the kindness and care that you provide our elders.
Up 50 Down 7
Wayne on Jun 12, 2014 at 11:29 pm
More, and more, my life is being pushed around by the bylaw department. Dave Pruden, uniform and all, seems to be
in the news once a week.
Up 67 Down 10
Congrats, COW on Jun 12, 2014 at 11:18 pm
Congratulations, COW - you win!
You have very effectively removed any reason at all for me to visit the downtown core. I shop at Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart and Superstore/Extra Foods and go to great lengths to avoid ever venturing further in to town than that. If I need something that one might buy from a store on Main Street - I shop online.
I consider myself very lucky that my job is located outside of the downtown area. If/when I am ever looking for another job; location will be a very important consideration for me. Likely it will be in a town other than Whitehorse altogether. I've been here for 35 years and can't say that I enjoy what Whitehorse has become.
Up 44 Down 5
Just Say'in on Jun 12, 2014 at 12:35 pm
A lot of you guys are still missing the point. Going out and moving places will no longer work. You have to leave completely for two hours before you can return. So figure out how you are going to do that???? Also you do not know when the escape went by, so you don't know when the clock started in order to do the calculation. This is crazy. How can a guy run down to do some business several times a day?
Up 42 Down 11
Salar on Jun 12, 2014 at 10:22 am
This may force some of the southerners south....thanks for the legacy....as well anyone agreeing that it should cost $20 per day to park downtown need to move south as well....stop the southern pollution.
I work downtown and will respond by not parking there any longer and not doing any shopping in the downtown core. I like walking but despise money grabbing idiotic self serving thoughtless rules. FO City of Arsehorse.
Up 21 Down 38
Mr.Rogers on Jun 12, 2014 at 9:40 am
Love it, nothing like getting the citizenry all riled up and talking about such an important issue.
Spend your hot air/energy on more important stuff. In the mean time smile, hug a tree, get walking and be happy.
Up 47 Down 5
Max Mack on Jun 12, 2014 at 8:51 am
This is CoW's proof that this fancy new gadgetry and associated costs are worth it? 34 tickets? There are so many ways that this exercise could have been manipulated to give this result, aside from plain old "luck". Additionally, the "15-20" tickets normally given out by chalking -- is that representative of June, or an average annual.
Beware the obvious need to prove that this expensive technology was needed.
Up 61 Down 7
Wooly Socks on Jun 12, 2014 at 8:41 am
It would be great if the Bylaw wrote a letter to my boss excusing me from work every two hours to park my car elsewhere. Or maybe I should just keep it with the motorhomes in the Walmart parking lot for weeks at a time?
Up 54 Down 4
Trevor Braun on Jun 12, 2014 at 8:32 am
Parking has always been a big issue in downtown. Now trying to understand the bylaws and changes and how they are enforced is a challenge. This new camera and system if anything will free up my parking spot as I will avoid going downtown all together, and move my business where I don't have to worry about parking at all.
Up 39 Down 45
Sally on Jun 12, 2014 at 6:58 am
This is a ridiculous issue. Employers want more turnover for on-street parking to increase customers to their businesses. Employees want to park in front of their workplace so they don't have to walk at all. Both want a parkade and neither wants to pay to park in one, taxes or otherwise.
Honestly, screw them both. I'm tired of listening to people whine about this issue incessantly. Grow up, learn to walk a few blocks.
Up 64 Down 5
Downtown Worker - Country Residential Living on Jun 12, 2014 at 6:42 am
This is ridiculous! It is quite frusterating to live out of town (need to drive to work as buses do not cover country residential) and have an office space surrounded by nothing but 2hr parking within a 4 block radius... I have to leave every two hours and alternate the various blocks for a period of at least two hours. Or I could leave my vehicle in one two hour spot and pay $100 per day for 8 hours of parking.
I would love to see the city do something a little more practical for the downtown workers. I would gladly pay $10 or even $20 a day to park in a parkade or $5 to $10 per day for an open lot stall. But $100 a day is ridiculous, leaving my office every 2 hours on the hour is an effective waste of my time and my employer's money.
Riding a bike or walking are not an option when you live an hour drive out of town.
Up 63 Down 8
James Rough on Jun 12, 2014 at 5:59 am
$60k Camera, $30K+ SUV, and $50 in gas a day driving around polluting the atmosphere with burnt fossil fuels.
You could have accomplished the same thing with a GoPro helmet cam, a mountain bike, and a pen/ticketbook and saved taxpayers $89K on the first day alone and been environmentally friendly in the process.
What a joke!!!
Up 54 Down 14
Yukoner 2 on Jun 12, 2014 at 5:44 am
The city could have built a parkade, another bridge to Riverdale and dealt with all the housing here if it wasn't for this little thing called Sima
Up 38 Down 11
Adele Sandrock on Jun 12, 2014 at 4:24 am
... and the city employees (as well as government employees) will probably still not have to pay for parking when they are at work, right?
Up 49 Down 5
Parking Tickets Funds/Cost of Traffic Enforement on Jun 12, 2014 at 4:06 am
Will the COW publish the amount of funds taken in by bylaw enforcement for the City and what it costs to operate the by-law enforcement program? Put it in the papers so we all can see the truth.
Thanks
Up 53 Down 3
Silly Love Songs on Jun 12, 2014 at 3:59 am
The only street that is remotely busy in downtown Whitehorse, in terms of parking, is Main St. Why they have two hour zones as far out from the downtown core as they do is just plain silly. It's not like people are parking in order to jump on the skytrain to get downtown- they have jobs in these places!!. Can't this city make money in a more honest fashion??
Up 66 Down 7
Mr. Citizen on Jun 12, 2014 at 3:51 am
What an obvious, unfortunate and unnecessary grab for cash. This is Whitehorse, not Vancouver. I am the man who complained in this article, however the author provided very limited details about my complaint.
I was parked on Black St. while subbing at the Individual Learning Centre for the day. At noon they advised me that I needed to move my car, even though I was the only car parked in the 2-hour zone. Having moved here recently from Vancouver I was not aware of this fancy new $60,000 camera on the top of a FORD Escape, navigating the busy streets of Whitehorse, trying to keep all of the deviant drivers from parking illegally (which is the tone and implication in this article)- ultimately making Whitehorse a better place to live (how else could the parking attendants justify their jobs?). So I left for lunch, and returned to the same 2-hour parking zone, where one other car was parked at the time. No problem, right? Wrong. Because I hadn't left for two hours (how confusing could this become??), it was like I never left at all, and was given a ticket.
I found it very curious, however, that right across the street, where there is another 2-hour parking zone in front of the Ford dealership, that Ford was parking their repair and rental vehicles in this zone. Most of these cars were in this pubic parking zone for the entire day, and nary a ticket was given. This was the crux of my complaint over the phone to the constable, who has yet to "advise" me as to why Ford is receiving special privileges over the average citizen (this wasn't just a one day thing either, as staff has told me that Ford has their vehicles there all the time, and tickets aren't given). She also failed to provide me with adequate council as to the necessity of such aggressive parking enforcement in Whitehorse.
Up 60 Down 5
Proper Parking plan down town on Jun 12, 2014 at 3:16 am
Why doesn't the City of Whitehorse come up with a traffic plan for the downtown of Whitehorse like other Cities have done instead of just wasting time?
Up 62 Down 4
2 hr parking user on Jun 12, 2014 at 12:54 am
This was suppose to be just a test with that new camera, they said it was not to affect people, yeah right, you guys are very sneaky.
We live here and work downtown but yet if you park near your work place, you have to leave work every 2 hrs to search around town to find a new parking space. This is getting insane. I hope lots of people complain maybe the city will see it from our point of view...
Up 67 Down 13
Gene Brown on Jun 11, 2014 at 10:39 pm
I have lived in this town more years than most of the stupid politicians who make these metropolitan laws for a little city that used to be a nice place to live until they started moving in here with their big city ideas and more ways to grab more money from residents just so city workers can live in comfort and have their paid Holidays. What a bunch of BS! This is becoming a harder place to live, thanks to all your bylaws that do nothing but bring in money. When they finally get it the way they want it, no one will want to live here.
Up 28 Down 7
north of 60 on Jun 11, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Did our taxes pay for an expensive study to show that the parking camera is a sustainable source of revenue for the CoW? Any revenue source that relies on a 'captive population' like government office workers, is very sustainable.
Don't complain, nobody said being Sustainably Green was easy.
Up 14 Down 54
A happy pedestrian on Jun 11, 2014 at 1:32 pm
Well I for one am very happy about this. I live downtown and don't drive. But I do have a parking spot for my visitors. This will make it so much easier to control the traffic now. Maybe driver's won't have my stroller marks on their vehicle. Now there's a time limit, I might be able to go for a walk with my kid on the sidewalk without having to walk in the road. Hope there's more work to be done for safety of the walkers with kids. Sorry for the poor grammar.
Up 94 Down 2
Mary Blahitka on Jun 11, 2014 at 1:31 pm
I have written the City to see if it is possible to purchase a parking permit to park longer than 2 hrs in front of Closeleigh Manor. I provide homecare to my 93 and 80 yr old parents and it is necessary to park a bit longer than 2 hours. I am not the only person that is experiencing the same dilemma, as there are a lot of seniors living at this residence that require extra help. Am still waiting for a response.
Up 70 Down 22
MIDNIGHTSUN007 on Jun 11, 2014 at 11:36 am
I personally abide by the parking rules,
They are in place for a reason, plus I do not want a ticket. Stop crying & live by the law & vent your anger against the bicycle riders who flaunt all rules of the road & place them selves in danger *but if you hit them you are the one to blame* By-law crack down on these a-- poles!
Up 46 Down 8
June Jackson on Jun 11, 2014 at 10:44 am
This is too funny.. of course it's a money grab.. this Council, and prior Councils as well, live so far beyond the taxpayers ability to pay the bills that we are seeing huge tax hikes. It adds up over a couple of years folks.. they have to do something for more, more..and more money.. they keep hiking taxes and eventually there will be trouble in the City.
Up 68 Down 3
james kathrein on Jun 11, 2014 at 10:21 am
Should post these types of cameras where there is handicapped parking.
Make available more longer term parking downtown, lots of people have nowhere else to park and can't make it to the meter because work requires them at work.
Up 37 Down 28
Cathy on Jun 11, 2014 at 9:21 am
Well for one thing Whitehorse is no longer a wee town. Changes happen and yes people do generally resist change. There needs to be a lot of changes in many ways to this small city. The way people drive needs to be monitored a lot better. Cameras at red lights would be great, see way too many people blow through them.
Up 66 Down 51
Josey Wales on Jun 11, 2014 at 9:11 am
What a bunch of greedy greedy B-------S our civic blow holes have devolved to.
Does that camera take photo's of the stop signs its host vehicle rolls through? What happened to our wee town?
Rhetorical as it clearly is being run by imports from outside.
If you show your SIMA pass does it erase the image?
Folks we NEED a tax revolt to reset the vibe around here.
Up 92 Down 14
Just Say'in on Jun 11, 2014 at 9:05 am
This is going to have to be revisited. I understand and agree that some are abusing the downtown parking, however I do a lot of business downtown and I go down six or eight times a day to some place and may end up in those zones several times. I have no idea what time they first saw me so have no idea when the clock started. This will be real hard on downtown businesses that are not on Main Street or in a metered area.
Up 79 Down 32
Yukoner 2 on Jun 11, 2014 at 8:07 am
Sounds like a cash grab to me.